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Let me start of by saying I absolutely love organic unrefined shea butter!! it's one of the most moisturizing and delicious natural oils that you can put on your body and can heal most skin allergies and irritations all on its own. I also waited to write this review until I was able to order a USDA certified organic, raw, unrefined shea butter from Mountainroseherbs.com to compare it with this product in order to be fair.
I received this product in a thin plastic container with a lid (looked like potato salad that you would order from your local deli), not in a plastic bag as others mentioned. The faded label on the container said, "sold as set...ready to ship" with a bar code on it. There is no organic certification printed anywhere on this product or ingredients it definitely not USDA organic. I used quite a bit of the pound that i purchased. Yes, it did have a strong smell like shea butter, but this one was more pungent and bitter as if it was on the cusp of going bad (Pure, unrefined organic shea butter is a yellow/beige color and their is a a nutty somewhat earthy odor that I am used to. Some like it and some don't. I don't love the smell, but I wouldn't use shea butter in any other way, most of the healing properties are destroyed during the refining and bleaching process as is the smell, which is why cosmetics and skin care manufacturers buy it refined because it eliminates the odor and will last longer.....adding organic essential oils to organic unrefined shea butter can make it smell wonderful but if your shea butter is white and smells fresh and clean, than it has been been refined and bleached). I noticed immediately that this shea butter had lumps that seemed more greasy than the non-lump areas if that makes any sense it had a distinct heavy emollient feel to it. I must admit that it did feel good on my skin, I have dry, sensitive and problematic skin, so I like a thick and hardy cream. I still had an open mind, in fact I referred it to my Mom who bought it as well, plus i read all of the great reviews and the fact that it comes all the way from Ghana......hmmmmm, .
Well, I used it to make several lotion, cream, lip balm and healing butter recipes that require melting down shea butter along with beeswax and other carrier oils in a double boiler. It took longer to melt down the shea butter than it did the beeswax...more than 20 minutes....that was not a good sign. So, I stopped using it and ordered a pound of shea butter from mountain rose herbs as mentioned above to see how the two products compared. The quality, consistency and appearance were truly a night and day difference. The new shea butter was smoother, almost flaky although thick, it was not chunky. Additionally, it did not have a heavy feel to it once you applied it to your skin it melted right in with a slightly thinner consistency. The smell was definitely reminiscent of shea butter, as it should be and when I used it to make the products above, it melted quickly!
I did see the review where someone mentioned there was petroleum jelly mixed in this product. I have not tested this product nor will i volunteer to so given the expense, but it felt to me like it was possible something else was mixed in.
I would love to hear what the seller has to say about this shea butter as I have not yet seen a singe response to any of the reviews. I would also urge the seller to be careful when labeling this product as "organic" and selling it that way when it is clearly not certified.
I will not buy this product again. If you are looking for a natural organic pure and urefined shea butter, this product is not what it claims to be buyer beware!
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I thought I would make a video review, and maybe I'll get to that later, but for now I'll just review and tell you how to make your own Shea Butter.Like everyone else said, it comes double bagged so the packaging isn't the best. However, mine was sealed well and not damaged and I was perfectly fine with it. It was true ivory Shea, which generally means pure. It wasn't rancid or anything like that either. That smell is what it should smell like if not refined and without additives.
Overall, the quality was very high and quite a bargain when you consider that most products that say they are Shea based contain only a spoon full or two per container in reality. This allows a much higher level of purity for anything you'd like to Shea up. Very pleased with it and I do plan to re-order. I'll be making home made shea butter in custom scents for everyone for Christmas this year!
That said, it can be a bit difficult to use and does leave a smell when you don't doctor it up. So I do. Here is the easiest way to do it for you too.
To Make Shea Butter:
1) Very slowly melt your shea in a double boiler OR by floating a bowl containing the shea in a large pot. Use very low heat since it melts at body temperature. The more heat, the more vitamins you take out of it so less is better.
2) Once mostly melted (you can leave some chunks), you can let it settle some to be sure there are no sediments (also normal for unrefined though mine had none) and then pour the liquid carefully into another bowl for mixing, leaving the sediments behind.
3) Add about 5 ounces of various oils to one pound of Shea. I added 2 ounces of Sweet Almond Oil, 2 ounces of Hazelnut Oil and 1/2 ounce of Wheat Germ Oil and Macadamia Nut Oil each.
4) Mix using a hand mixer (not your kitchen aid) on whip for a long time. To shorten the time, just mix it enough to fully incorporate the oils (maybe 2 minutes) and then put the bowl into the fridge for 10 minutes. It will form a white layer on top of cooled shea. Then you take it out and keep mixing. It will take so long that you'll think you're doing it wrong, but you're not. Just keep going. Eventually, you'll start forming something that looks like frosting that smells a lot better than plain Shea.
5) Add your scent oils. I use pure essential oils and I made 2 batches. One Rosemary Mint and one Lavendar Orange. Both lovely. You'll need to decide your own amounts on this but you don't need a whole lot of it. Then mix it in and voila, you're done. Spoon into whatever containers you'd like to use. I used pyrex bowls with the plastic lids.
6) Makes about 5 pints. It will re-stiffen, but not as much as before, and will spread and melt more easily. Also soaks in a tad faster.
Buy 100% Pure Unrefined Raw SHEA BUTTER - (1 Pound) from the nut of the African Ghana Shea Tree. Now
Shea Butter is great. I have had nothing but success using it! I love that it's natural. I love that it's easy to use and safe. The product's only downfall is the packaging, or lack there of. I use moisturizers so often I need to be able to travel and use it on the go, which is what this lacks. Instead of replacing my shea butter, I shelved it for use at home only. On the go, I decided to compliment it with almond oil, another natural moisturizer.The almond oil I use is a little pricier, but worth the splurge -(NOW Foods Sweet Almond Oil 16 oz. + FREE 100% Cococare Coconut Oil 4 fl oz). The oil is easier to spread and doesn't have to leave the same greasy style residue on your hands. It keeps my hands feeling silky smooth all day when I can't access the shea butter. I've even hooked some of my co-workers onto the regiment too. Shea butter at home, almond oil away. Both of the products are great, and they last even longer when you pair them up. I haven't found a better system than the alternating of the two.My skin is well, kinda yucky. I suffer from combination skin and large pores on my face, dry scaly/bumpy skin on my body (super-prone to razor bumps and rashes-gross!)...and to top it off, hereditary stretch marks! Never had any children, but I have them anyway! I started getting them when I was 11 years old after a quick growth spurt on my arms, legs...pretty much everywhere. Needless to say I've led a covered up, self concsious existence. I hate declaring my flaws like this, but this is a public service, right? When I was in high-school, I discovered tanning which really helped me with smoothing out my skin and minimizing these issues (yay SUN!).
Recently however, my Father has developed cancerous tissues since taking up golfing in his retirement (boo CANCER!), and it has freaked out my sister and I so we've BOTH stopped with the tanning...really, what a horrible thing to do anyway...but when you find something that works...you sometimes mindlessly just do it.
So if somebody tells me this Shea Butter stuff causes cancer, I'm just going to become a hermit because I gotta tell you...IT WORKS! I mean, almost IMMEDIATELY, I started to notice it attacking the issues on my skin. When you rub it in, the first thing you notice is, it stinks. It smells like a health food store. So, plan on spritzing something else on over it! But don't however buy the "Golden" shea butter, while it DOES moisturize...it's not pure, so it doesn't have the healing qualities. You'll also notice it's chunky and a little hard to work with, so you have to palm it, and work it a bit to get it to a point where it will apply to your skin.
THEN you must rub....and rub, and then rub some more. Massage those troubled areas (for me, that's everywhere)! Get the bloodflow moving, and get that stuff worked in as much as possible. You'll never get it all the way DRY, that's just how it is, it's going to bead water--it's butter. But it's not an oily thing, it won't stain your clothes. Then sit back and let it do it's thing.
Whatever that is, I don't know the science! To me it's just awesome! In a little under 1 week, I noticed the skin inside some of my stretch marks start to soften, and the backs of my arms get SMOOTH, shaving got easier too. (I still use the Vanish pfb because I'm paranoid, however)
The craziest thing though was, I had a giant gash on my leg where I'd fallen off my bike...and in 2 days this stuff healed more of the tissue than over 1 month of Neosporin...and that is the God's Honest Truth. I am NOT a health-nut-type, Noni-juice-drinking, copper-bracelet-type person at ALL...these are cold, hard factual observations by an EXTREMELY AVERAGE 33-YEAR-OLD GIRL from Detroit-ish Michigan. You can check my references. :)
You're going to start noticing too, just how MANY products out there have shea butter in them...and then go ahead and throw some petroleum-based fillers in them (which actually DRY-OUT your skin & lips), and how much money you've wasted over the years! So go do your duty and spread the word to your friends & family now that you KNOW the truth!!This product came in horrible packaging and was yellow, not tinted yellow, yellow. In the subtext the seller claims to have added coloring in. The point of a 100% Pure Organic product is that it is pure. Please don't waste your money and buy this product.
I wouldn't put this anywhere near my skin. If I wanted yellow shea butter I would have bought it off the street (not really because I clearly am not interested in a tainted product). I will be complaining to amazon regarding the misleading labeling of this product.
***Update*****
The seller at the time of purchase was Lakesidemall. I have purchased this exact same product but by a different seller, Halaleverday. The product I received from Halaeverday was was ivory, in large chunks, and in a two plastic bags. However, it worked fantastic. I stored it in the refrigerator and have used it to make whipped shea butter for my hair and body. The previous seller, lakesidemall, should not have sold their item with the label 100% Pure unrefined raw shea butter. Amazon receives items from different suppliers, so if you are interested in this particular product I would suggest you investigate the supplier. Amazon customer service is great and provided me with a full refund!
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